The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game Part 2

One day Sean Tuohy and his wife Leigh Anne were driving down the streets of Memphis along with their kids when they saw a huge African American kid.  He was just wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and shorts even though it was snowing outside.  Feeling empathetic, Leigh Anne had her husband pull over and ask the kid if he was ok.  He said he was going to basketball practice even though it was really late at night.  It turns out he was just trying to find shelter to stay the night.  The next day Leigh Anne goes to pick up Michael Oher to pick up clothes.  She tries to communicate with him but he doesn't talk back.  She finds out about his incredible body measurements and how rare they really are.  Michael had tried many sports and seemed to be good at all of them due to his natural athletic ability.  When he gets hurt in a football game, we learn he is scared of the outside world and doesn't really trust anyone.  When he started spring practice the next year, there were college scouts there to see Michael in person.  Even the University of Michigan, a football powerhouse, came down to Memphis to watch him.  They were amazed.  Soon college scouts from seemingly every college except Penn State came to see him.  They were already offering him college scholarships.  By this point Michael was living with Sean, one of his football coaches and his family Leigh Anne, Sean Jr. and Collins Touhy.  Due to this he started to become more open and social with people especially Leigh Anne.  His fame was also picking up on the field.  Soon he was going to a bunch of college football camps and impressing them.  In one of his games, the defensive tackle was talking trash to Michael.  This made Michael super mad and he ended up getting an "excessive blocking" penalty which had never been called before.  It showcased Michaels' heart.  After this Michael finds out his dad had been killed 3 months ago.  For some reason, this didn't bother Michael. Soon after Michael opened up about wanting a driver's license since nobody in his family had gotten one.  In order to do this he had to have 2 forms of identification.  Since there wasn't any records of him, this was extremely difficult.  They quickly find his birth certificate and use his school i.d.  He takes the test and finds out later he was ecstatic.  The next step was to improve his grades.  He had a horrendous 1.56 GPA and the NCAA requires a 2.56 GPA.  She had to improve this.  I am on page 150 and am really enjoying the book.  I highly recommend it.

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game

I have been reading The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game.  I originally saw the film and enjoyed it.  I think it is a great story and it really interested me as I'm very interested in sports.  I decided to start reading the book and have enjoyed it.  The story is about Michael Oher, a kid whose mom was a drug addict and whose dad was often in prison.  He was one of 12 kids.  Oher was a great athlete and had great size for a kid his age.  Academics often held him back.  He repeated first and second grade while also attending 11 different schools in 9 years.  He went to many different foster homes during this time.  His dad was also murdered in prison.  I think his childhood is very well developed in this book even though much of his childhood is unknown.  It is keeping me engaged.  I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in sports or people who like comeback stories in general.

Oher's story is just one of the plots.  The other one focuses on how Lawrence Taylor impacted the game.  Taylor was a linebacker for the New York Giants and was known as the hardest hitter in the league.  He was also one of the greatest to play his position.  Taylor was a constant force, the offense always had to know where he was or else he disrupted the play.  One of his hits was one that ended Joe Theisman's who was a star quarterback.  This made teams value the left tackle, who protects the quarterback's blind side, unless they are left handed.  It revolutionized the game.  This part was very interesting and helps emphasize the importance of the left tackle, Oher's postion.